Sentek Drill & Drop Soil Moisture Probe
Features
- Quick and easy undisturbed installation due to tapered shape
- Measures the true soil profile, not slurry
- Pre-normalized sensors with built-in default calibration equation
- Free ground shipping
- Expedited repair and warranty service
- Lifetime technical support
- More
Overview
The Sentek Drill & Drop is a fully encapsulated, easy-to-install soil measurement probe. Probes are available in five lengths: 10cm, 30cm, 60cm, 90cm, and 120cm, with sensors fixed at every 10cm (4”) increment. Purchase options are either with soil moisture + temperature sensors or soil moisture + temperature + salinity.
Deployment
Due to the ease of install and protected electronics, the Drill & Drop is ideally suited to situations where a monitoring probe may need to be moved between sites in short-term and annual crops. Having the electronics completely encapsulated and able to be completely buried also makes the probe suited to long-term installations, where machinery will often pass, such as dry land and feed crops. Being able to leave the probe in the ground means long-term, uninterrupted data trends, and comparison between seasons is possible.
The Drill & Drop also covers the issue of data continuity and integrity where the probe does need to be reinstalled. The ingenious tapered probe and matching auger allows direct, slurry-free, installation. This direct installation method means that the probe is measuring ‘real’ representative soil conditions immediately after install, because the surrounding soil has not been disturbed.
In The News
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Manages Monitoring Efforts in Morro Bay
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly, SLO), has been monitoring Morro Bay for decades, and while the monitoring program has changed over the years, the dedication to monitoring the bay has remained the same. 
 
The project started in 2006 as a Packard Foundation-funded initiative to monitor water quality flowing in and out of Morro Bay. The goal at the time was to use the data collected to develop and inform an ecosystem-based management plan in collaboration with the Morro Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP). 
 
Since the estuary was the focus at the time, researchers were monitoring water flowing into the estuary from Chorro Creek and Los Osos Creek.
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 The Fox River flows into the bay, carrying excess nutrients largely the result of non-point source runoff from the watershed. With a history of deterioration extending well into the last century, the bay ecosystem suffered significant declines in water quality. 
 
 This, in turn, stimulated major clean-up and ongoing restoration efforts to improve water quality. Tracking these changes is an important aspect of ecosystem management.
Read MoreCross-Border Sewage Contaminated Flows: Monitoring the Tijuana River
The Tijuana River runs across the US-Mexico boundary, flowing into and throughout southern California, carrying with it nutrients and contaminants throughout the estuary. In recent decades, the flows have been heavily polluted with untreated sewage from the City of Tijuana. 
 
The wastewater enters the greater Tijuana River estuary, impacting coastal communities and disrupting the natural environment. In order to better understand these cross-border flows, researchers out of San Diego University sought to monitor the waterway test the capabilities of in-situ sensors to measure the contaminated water. 
 
Natalie Mladenov and Trent Biggs were two of the researchers involved in the project, deploying a real-time monitoring system in May of 2021.
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